ISSF World Cup Finals: Debutant Ravi Kumar finishes eighth

NEW DELHI: Ravi Kumar finished at the bottom of the heap in a high-scoring 10m air rifle final as hosts India's medal count remained static at one gold in the ISSF World Cup Finals here today.

Competing in maiden World Cup Final, Kumar shot 123.4 in the eighth-man event before becoming the first to be eliminated in the third series on the second day of the competition.

On day one yesterday, Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu combined to give India the gold medal in 10m mixed air pistol event at the prestigious annual event of the International Shooting Sport Federation, being organised at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges.

With 623.9, Kumar managed a fifth-place finish in the qualification.

The 2014 Incheon Asian Games team bronze medallist started the final with a 10.5 and followed that up with a 10.3. A 10.2 in the third shot of the first series kept him in fray, but a very low 9.2 in the following shot pulled him to the last place, from where he could never stage a fightback.

He produced quite a few high 10s in the next two series, including a 10.8 and two 10.6s, but they were not enough to see him through to a better finish.

20-year-old Istvan Peni of Hungary clinched the gold medal with 249.8, equalling the junior world record in the process, while Belarus' Vitali Bubnovich won the silver with a score of 249.5 in the final.

Peter Sidi, a Hungarian shooting legend and a man the likes of Peni looks up to, bagged the bronze -- his seventh air rifle medal in World Cup Final -- with 228.5.

Serbia's Milutin Stefanovic fought gamely before finishing fourth with 207.6.

"I am very disappointed with this performance. That one nine let me down and I could not come back. I have been practicing hard for this and that is what I am disappointed. I am now looking forward to the Commonwealth Shooting Championships (in Gold Coast, Australia)," said the 27-year- old Kumar.

In the day's other event, France's Celine Goberville bagged the gold medal in women's 10m air pistol with 240.9, Yuemei Lin of China won the silver with 237.0 and Mengxue Zhang, also a Chinese and reigning Olympic champion, finished with the bronze after scoring 218.7.

There was no Indian interest in this event.

Anna Korakaki of Greece, a bronze winner in this event at the Rio Games last year, missed out on a podium finish here and was placed fifth with 177.5. Mexico's Alejandra Zavala Vazquez was fourth with 198.7.